There are a total of six presents that can be "opened" by completing the quest given by the gift itself under the tree. You can open these gifts on all of your characters, you aren't limited to just one character!

The holiday season is upon us, which means it's not only time for our Winter Veil guide and holiday giveaway, but also more Noxy art! Every year Noxy creates a new holiday wallpaper for Wowhead, and this year she's made Frostfire Ridge a bit cozier with Durotan and Frostwolf Pups...oh and the awesomeness of Yrel. (Check out past wallpapers here!)

With the addition of the Toy Box in Warlords of Draenor, Winter Veil is the source for many toys. There are eleven toys that can only be obtained from presents, as well as a few more toys that have the chance to be contained in presents, but can be purchased year-round from other vendors.

The holiday season is upon us, which means it's not only time for our Winter Veil guide and holiday giveaway, but also more Noxy art! Every year Noxy creates a new holiday wallpaper for Wowhead, and this year she's imaging how all the faction leaders are celebrating after the Siege of Orgrimmar. (Check out past wallpapers here!)

2013 was an innovative year for Wowhead as we released a lot of creative features to keep up with the changing game--like Wowhead Sounds, the Battle Pet Team Calculator, visual search results, and collection tracking--and we have even more in store for 2014!

We couldn't have done this without your continued support and the entire staff thanks you for visiting and being part of the Wowhead tradition.

Feast of Winter Veil is hitting servers early Monday so get prepared to drink some Winter Veil Egg Nog, sit by your Cozy Fire, and open your Stolen Present--wait, what? Is that a new type of present we've found in the database? There's a new holiday gift waiting for you under this year's tree, and your Father Winter's Helper has stopped sulking and is ready for some pet battles, so this is one holiday you don't want to miss!

Festivities

Gift-Giving

The most exciting part of Winter Veil comes near the end when we get our presents! The presents under Greatfather Winter's tree can be opened from December 25 to January 2. There are a total of six presents that can be "opened" by completing the quest given by the gift itself under the tree.

Winter Revelers

All of Azeroth and beyond have gotten into the spirit of Winter Veil! Winter Revelers (such as Blood Elf Female Winter Reveler) can be found inside inns throughout the world located under a sprig of mistletoe. Simply /kiss a Reveler (it doesn't matter which gender) and you will be rewarded with a token of their gratitude. You can only /kiss a Reveler once every hour, as you will receive a debuff along with whatever gift they've granted you, which can include:

These items are used in various Winter Veil achievements (as detailed below).

Become a Little Helper!

In addition to the Smokywood Pastures vendors located inside the cities, the goblins have set up strange PX-238 Winter Wondervolt machines which can be used to change your character into a festive Little Helper! The buff lasts for 30 minutes but is removed by shapeshifting or death (another sad holiday to be a druid). You can refresh the duration of the buff at any time by stepping into the Wintervolt machine. You can also do this to change gnomes costumes until you get one that you like. This disguise is required to complete the achievement With a Little Helper from My Friends.

The winter hats also have an extremely low chance to drop from any humanoid mob in the world; I wouldn't hold your breath but who knows--you could get lucky! In previous years, heroic Northrend and normal/heroic Cataclysm dungeon bosses dropped hats. If you're unlucky winning rolls, seems your best bet is to try to solo a Northrend heroic boss.

Crafting Recipes

Players with Leatherworking, Tailoring or Cooking may find that they've received mail from Greatfather Winter written on festive stationary. Oddly enough, the Alliance Greatfather sends the gifts to both factions - a free recipe! Tailors will receive either Pattern: Green Winter Clothes (Horde) or Pattern: Red Winter Clothes (Alliance), Leatherworkers will receive Pattern: Winter Boots and Cooks will recieve Recipe: Hot Apple Cider. There are certain skill level requirements for each recipe to be mailed, but if for any reason you did not receive a recipe, don't worry--the recipes can be purchased at vendors in the major cities, as listed below.

Stolen Present is the reward for turning in this quest--it has a small chance to contain Lump of Coal which summons Lumpy! Remember, it's a daily quest in now, so you can have a shot every day at this pet. The other rewards are toy items Jepetto Joybuzz sells.

Seasonal Goodies

There are a number of items that are only available during the Feast of Winter Veil. Smokeywood Pastures vendors can be found in all major cities selling a variety of holiday goodies, including a plethora of food and drink items, wrapping paper, and even some seasonal recipes!

You might notice that some of their names seem familiar--they're based on popular retail stores. Fitting that's how goblin vendors celebrate the season.

Food & Drinks

Smokeywood Pastures food and drink vendors can be found in several major cities. Copperpinch vendors can be found in Horde cities, and the Jinglepocket vendors can be found in Alliance cities. Olnayvi Copperpinch sells food to both factions in Shattrath.

General Goods

Smokeywood Pastures "general goods"-style vendors can be found right next to the food/drink vendors. Copperpinch vendors can be found in Horde cities, and the Jinglepocket vendors can be found in Alliance cities. An additional Jinglepocket vendor can be found in Shattrath City, Eebee Jinglepocket.

Patterns

In addition to the seasonal goods listed above, vendors in major cities will also sell a tailoring pattern to create festive winter clothes and a leatherworking pattern to create matching boots! Remember, there's a good chance you already obtained these recipes in the mail from Greatfather Winter. Please note that these three recipes are Bind on Pickup, and as such (of course) cannot be sold or traded.

Recipe collectors will of course want to collect both Tailoring patterns. Since the vendors are enterprising goblins, Alliance players can pick up Pattern: Green Winter Clothes easily by simply going to Shattrath and buying it from Eebee Jinglepocket who is neutral to both factions.

The other seasonal pets got some holiday cheer in 2011 as well. They now have animations when out of season to hearth (Green Helper Box), melt away (Snowman Kit), and be less festive (Jingling Bell). They also no longer cost a Snowball to summon so you have nothing to lose! If you do summon them during the holidays, they stick around and will mount up on a mini-reindeer. These have a chance to be found inside Gaily Wrapped Present (requires level 20+ to open).

Winter's Little Helper (Red Helper Box): This helper is too stressed to stay long--"Helpers are very busy year-round, and only have leisure time during the Feast of Winter Veil." After scolding the player, the helper will hearth away outside of Winter Veil.

Tiny Snowman (Snowman Kit): This snowman doesn't do well outside of winter--"The snowman is larger and lasts longer during Winter Veil." After several seconds in the summer, he will flop over and lose his hat.

Achievements

With each event comes new achievements, this year's is The Danger Zone! There's also a player title granted to those who can obtain 11 core achievements--Merrymaker! Some are easy, and others more of a challenge, but here's everything you need to know to be on your way to becoming that much more festive.

MerrymakerThis achievement can be found in the main World Events achievement category and is awarded upon completion of all but one of the Winter Veil achievements. This achievement awards the player title 'Merrymaker' and is a requirement towards completion of What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been, which rewards Violet Proto-Drake.

Horde players must use Mistletoe on the following NPCs: Brother Malach (51.6, 22.6, Undercity), Durkot Wolfbrother (40.2, 55.0, Borean Tundra), Brother Keltan (Icecrown). Brother Keltan is the trickiest for low-level players to reach since he's located on the flying Gunship and players can't summon players under 77 onto the ship. You can be summoned to the spiky mountain at the northern-most point of the Gunship's path though, and then jump over with Levitate. You can also try to chain die/rez starting from Storm Peaks, and eventually rez on the ship.

He Knows If You've Been NaughtyOpen one of the presents underneath the Winter Veil tree once they are available.This achievement was awarded retroactively to players who had items or achievements related to any previous years' gifts (such as the Clockwork Rocket Bot feat). To obtain this achievement, simply log in at any point from December 25th to January 2nd and obtain a gift from under the Winter Veil tree in either Orgrimmar or Ironforge.

Let It SnowDuring the Feast of Winter Veil, use a Handful of Snowflakes on each of the race/class combinations listed below.During the Feast of Winter Veil, use a Handful of Snowflakes on the following race/class combinations:

Orc Death Knight

Tauren Shaman

Undead Rogue

Gnome Mage

Blood Elf Warlock

Human Warrior

Night Elf Druid

Troll Hunter

Dwarf Paladin

Draenei Priest

Simply look around in any major faction city, or a battleground, and you'll probably end up with all of the combinations needed. Handful of Snowflakes can be obtained randomly from /kiss'ing Winter Revelers.

With a Little Helper from My FriendsEarn 50 honorable kills as a Little Helper from the Winter Wondervolt machine.For this achievement you must earn 50 honorable kills while transformed into a Little Helper from the Winter Wondervolt machine. Remember that the disguise is lost upon death, shapeshift, or , so this achievement might take a few tries to accomplish, but thankfully the killing blows are cumulative --just be ready to visit the Wondervolt between battles if PvP isn't your forté.

BB King or BB KingPelt the enemy leaders listed below.This achievement was added in 2009's Winter Veil and can only be completed with a Red Rider Air Rifle (obtained from the 2009 Winter Veil gift or toy vendors like Jepetto Joybuzz). You must use the gun to pelt each of the opposing faction's leaders - how mean! First snowballs, now BBs? What ever happened to respecting authority?

Blizzard

Greatfather Winter has delivered once more and you’ll find a plethora of presents under the tree in Orgrimmar for the Horde, and in Ironforge for the Alliance. Don’t miss your opportunity to receive this year’s exclusive gift.

The holiday season is upon us, which means it's not only time for our Winter Veil guide and holiday giveaway, but also more Noxy art! Every year Noxy creates a new holiday wallpaper for Wowhead, and this year she's managed to even bring holiday cheer to the Sha of Fear.

2012 was a busy year for Wowhead with Mists of Pandaria launching, and we're really excited about the new features we have planned for 2013. We couldn't have done any of this without your loyal support of our database and other features, and the entire staff extends a heartfelt thank-you to everyone for visiting and being part of the Wowhead tradition.

Wowhead staff was also sent the lovely holiday card from the Blizzard Community team (click to enlarge). The Warcraft CMs have really gotten into the spirit of the holidays, with a lighthearted holiday greetings post featuring incriminating photos in RL versions of Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater. They've even dared players to photoshop the pictures in absurd ways!